The word repentance in the dictionary means: “Sense of contrition or rejection, shown by the sinner, in relation to his sins, doing good with him to obtain his remission.”
We see the word repent many times in the Holy Bible, and we understand that this is a very important point for us to reach salvation.
Acts 3:19 – Repent therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, and that the times of refreshing may come through the presence of the Lord.
The above verse teaches us that we must repent and then convert, only then our sins will be blotted out. There is no conversion without repentance, in no way can we accept Jesus Christ and continue living in the same practices.
Repentance generates a change in life within the human being, a change of character, change of thoughts and attitudes.
In Acts 3:19, we understand that God has determined that He will bless His people with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, upon the prerequisites of repentance, of turning away from the sin of the wicked generation around them, and turning to: Turning to God, and hearing all that Christ the Prophet tells him, and ever progressing not sincere obedience to Christ.
2 Chronicles 7:14 – And if my people, who are called by my name, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sins, and I will heal your land.
We constantly need to be turned to God, renouncing our wills and desires. We must humble ourselves, pray, seek the face of God, and turn from his evil ways.
Humiliate: God’s people must acknowledge their faults, express sorrow for their sin, and renew their commitment to doing God’s will.
Matthew 5:3 – Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; We understand that “poor in spirit” here means, recognizing that we have no spiritual self-sufficiency; and we depend on the life of the Spirit; of divine power and grace that we might enter the Kingdom of God.
Pray: God’s people must cry out in agony, asking him for mercy, must depend totally on him and trust him for their intervention. Prayer must be fervent and present until God answers from heaven.
Psalm 102:17 – He will answer the prayer of the helpless, and will not despise their prayer. God will in no way fail to answer a prayer made by anyone, as this is the only way to communicate with Him. God can make many things happen in our lives through our prayers, because his ears are attentive to the our cry
Seek the face of God: God ‘s people should earnestly seek the face of God with all their hearts and yearn for the presence and not simply try to flee from adversity.
Isaiah 55:6,7 – Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and evil man his thoughts, and turn to the Lord, who will have mercy on him; return to our God, because it is great to forgive.
The sinner must seek God while he is in force, in his promise to hear him, because the time to receive salvation here has a limit.
2 Corinthians 6:1,2 – And we, co-operating with him, exhort you not to receive the grace of God in vain (For he says, Hear thee in an acceptable time, and I helped thee in the day of salvation; behold, now the acceptable time, here is now the day of salvation). The day will come when he will not be found Hebrews3:7-12 – Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, If ye will hearken unto his voice this day, harden not your hearts, As in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness. Where your fathers tempted me, tried me, And saw my works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with this generation, And said: These always err in their hearts, And they knew not my ways. So I swore in my wrath That they will not enter into my rest. See, brethren, that there is never in any of you an evil and unfaithful heart, to depart from the living God.
Turn from their evil ways: God’s people must sincerely repent, abandon specific sins and all forms of idolatry, renounce worldliness if they come to God; asking for mercy, forgiveness and purification. Hebrews 4:16 – Let us therefore come with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace, that we may be helped in an opportune time.
When the 4 conditions on the part of God are fulfilled, for the revival and Spiritual renewal of his people, the triple divine promise of revival is also fulfilled.
(1) God will turn away his anger from his people, he will hear their anguished cry, and he will answer their prayer. In other words, the first evidence of a revival is that God begins to hear prayer from heaven and responds from there and manifests compassion for his people.
(2) God will forgive his people, wash away their sins, and restore to their favor, presence, peace, truth, justice, and power among them.
(3) God will heal his people and their respective land, pouring again rains, favor and physical blessings, and the Holy Spirit, spiritual awakening among his people and among the lost.
Above we can clearly understand what repentance can do in a person’s life. When someone recognizes his mistakes, humbles himself before the mighty hand of God, prayerfully seeks the face of God with all his heart, and turns from his evil ways. God looks at him with his eyes of mercy and reverses the entire sentence.
And this verse remains valid even for today, because our God has not changed He remains the same yesterday, today and forever.
We understand that for God to accomplish something in our lives, it is first necessary that we have an attitude of change. We are totally dependent on God, his care and his mercy. We must seek God until He answers us. We must bring God’s attention to our lives.
There is no Christian life if we do not dialogue with God through prayer, as it is extremely important for a Christian to live a life in prayer and constantly seeking God.
And it is necessary to recognize our evil ways and abandon them, no matter what we have done so far, because what matters is from here on, how we will get out from this moment on.
Repentance is a change in a person’s life!
The one who stole no longer steals, the one who killed no longer kills, the one who prostituted himself no longer prostitutes himself, those who lived according to the precepts of the world now live according to the will of God.
Allow God to change your life today! Repent and come to the fold, because God wants to save you, because you are important to God.
